Well because I think Love is better, and knowing that Cho will look at 4000 different angles before he trades anyone, I would be ecstatic
I really really like Love. I think the guy might be the best passing big man in the NBA and has a great carrier ahead of him. That being said LMA is the better scorer/defender because of his athleticism and length. One thing i'v said a lot is that LMA offensive game isn't the scary thing about him, he has the ability to be the best defender at the PF position in the league imo. Pretty much the only upside to Love is his passing ability and the fact at the moment he grabs more rebounds. LMA has a higher ceiling and is a better player so I say were fine at the PF position. We really only have 1 position we need an upgrade at and thats PGOTF. Miller will be fine next year but after he is gone we are left with some lose ends their, and i'm only saying this because I do not like Conley that much, he is good and of course would be a great fit next to Oden, but i'd much rather have our undersized backup SG playing point then Conley.
Maybe it just comes down to how much we watch Minnesota and Memphis basketball games. Now I do have the league pass and I do watch a little of most games every night. But still I admit I am no expert on either team. The games I watch of them in detail are of course the Portland games. And in those games Conley always looks pretty good (regardless of stats) and Love has never had a big game against us. Maybe it is beacuse our PG's do not do a good job of stoping Conley, and maybe it is because LMA Or Joel were too good for Love. Not sure but I do like Conley's game. He is no CP3, but I think he would fit in.
standing in the shower and reflecting after my last post, one bust prediction I'd made came to me. I'd said Adam Morrison had the potential to be the next Wally Szczerbiak. I recall at the time you screamed bloody murder over how much I was underselling his potential, but obviously with the benefit of hindsight I was overestimating his ceiling by a ton. In my defense this prediction was done prior to the predraft stuff that showed AM to have the size of a shooting guard combined with the athleticism of Oprah but regardless, my bad! You're right about me not popping off about every other prospect, but then I've never claimed to be a draft expert. Though I watch a fair amount of college ball, most of the top prospects usually don't seem to be that great/diamond in the rough types to me so I don't throw out the comparisons to HOFers lightly like the draft websites and some here seem to do every offseason. Also I usually limit my input here to guys the Blazers might realistically draft so when they're picking down in the 20's it's not likely I'm talking about which future AS to back. That said I was a lonely voice backing Chris Paul (calling him a superstar), wanted Brandon (comparing him favorably to Manu), wanted LA (said he'd be a solid Big starter at the high post), thought both Greg and Durant would be stars (duh, but backed GO's selection), wanted Batum at #13 (that was prior to the heart scare that pushed him down), and wanted A.Randolph the last time Portland was in the lotto (jury is still out there obviously). Not too bad a track record eh? *edit- just remembered Randolph and Batum were in the same draft. They were my 1 & 2 choices at #13 STOMP
Again, we still can't get over the AM thing can we? Weren't you one of the many on the board that was adamant that we picked Gerald Green?
didn't you just ask me which prospect I blew it on? You asked, I answered. Does "the next Larry Bird" get a 2nd NBA contract? You really shouldn't be so sensitive about an occasional ribbing though... no one in the history of the internet has been as obnoxious as you were backing Adam. I argued a lot of view points that draft often taking a devil's advocate point of view when someone would say something that would seem like it begged a counter. For example, I recall people saying the Green was a moron and I countered by saying he'd reportedly received very high grades. I also recall being impressed by his pre-draft stuff and not so much by Martell's. Actually what concerned me the most about MW was that he reportedly was still suffering from some sort of ankle injury suffered in his Jr. year which was why his run jump numbers were so piss poor. Having never seen either play in an actual game is why I didn't really back or deride either guy. but no doubt about it the guy I longed for Portland to select was Chris Paul. As I've relayed many times, I grew up in Winston Salem NC (ages 5-11) and still follow the Demon Deacons as one of my main sports interests. My recollection was that I tailed off trumpeting CP as we approached the draft as I tired of taking on a board full of Telfair supporters convinced of his greatness (despite having no jumper). Hell, I even got into it with a few JJack supporters afterwords. Instead of implying that I'm a liar, how about you stop being such a lazy ass all of those threads are still available on line for you to look up STOMP
you first. Does Larry Bird II get another NBA contract? I promise to teach you how to use the S2 search function soon enough STOMP
Just cause you come in saying the same thing over and over again doesn't mean people are going to magically change their mind.
A lot of this comes down to LMA's mental state. When his head is in the game, he is a more versatile defender and scorer than Love. What scares me, are the long stretches he goes through where he becomes invisible. In particular, there were times last season that the effort just didn't seem to be there on the defensive end. Granted, there were extenuating circumstances last season.
Alright a little food for thought. Aldridge: 39 mpg, 45% FG, 80%FT, 8 rpg, 2 apg, 1 bpg, 18.1 ppg Love: 33 mpg, 43% FG, 90% FT, 15 rpg, 2 apg, 1 bpg, 19 ppg Better production in 6 less minutes a game. Neither player is playing for a winning team. Just something to think about....
There's never been a moment that I never would have made that trade. I'll even throw in Brandon Roy for nothing. Nate apparently thinks he's good enough to start over Wesley Matthews, so he must be great, right?
